likeness
/ˈlaɪknəs/ noun, verb
Forms likenesses likenessing likenessed
- noun The state or quality of being like or alike. “I bear no likeness to my parents whatsoever.”
- noun Appearance or form; guise. “A foe in the likeness of a friend”
- noun That which closely resembles; a portrait. “How he looked, the likenesses of him which still remain enable us to imagine.”
- verb (archaic, transitive) To depict.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Etymology
From Middle English liknesse, from Old English līcness, ġelīcnes (“the quality of being like or equal; likeness; image; copy; pattern; example; parable”), from Proto-West Germanic *galīkanassī (“likeness”), equivalent to like + -ness.
Cognate with West Frisian likenis (“likeness”), Dutch gelijkenis (“similarity; likeness; parable”), German Low German Glieknis (“form; semblance; likeness; parable”), German Gleichnis (“form; semblance; image; likeness; parable; simile”). The verb is derived from the noun. Compare also Old Norse líkneskja (“figure, image, appearance, likeness”).
Webster’s 1913
- noun The state or quality of being like; similitude; resemblance; similarity; as, the likeness of the one to the other is remarkable.
- noun Appearance or form; guise.
Etymology [AS. gelicnes.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “likeness”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details